NKU athletic director fired for ethical violations

Unexpected fall from grace came in school's first year of Division I play

Mar. 18, 2013

Former Northern Kentucky University Athletic Director Scott Eaton showed the student body that the number one now stood for Division I as they officially announced the switch from Division II to the Atlantic Sun Conference and D-I athletics during a press conference and pep rally on Dec 18, 2011. / The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger

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Scott Eaton’s sudden termination from Northern Kentucky University Monday left NKU stunned midway through its first year at the highest level of intercollegiate sports.

NKU President Geoff Mearns fired Eaton, NKU’s athletic director since mid-2009, because of ethical violations that he would not detail.

Mearns said he learned about some aspect of Eaton’s conduct March 8 and suspended him March 12.

He said the conduct is not related to any NCAA violation during NKU’s first year in Division I, and does not directly impact student-athletes.

Mearns also said he has “no information that involved financial misconduct.” He refused to comment on whether conduct with any other employee was a factor.

Even though Eaton was terminated immediately, Mearns said the investigation would continue.

“In my view, we need to continue the investigation to determine the full scope of his conduct and its impact on the university,” he said.

Eaton was gone from the Highland Heights campus and could not be reached for comment.

Mearns hired an outside law firm to manage the firing and investigation. Monday, he met with athletic department staff to tell them of his action.

Gerry St. Amand, who is resigning this summer as NKU’s top fund-raiser, will become acting athletic director for about 30 days. Mearns said he will appoint an interim – probably from outside NKU – who will serve for up to six months while he launches a search for a permanent replacement.

“We are going ahead,” he said.

In a letter Monday to NKU’s Board of Regents, Mearns said the decision “was compelled by his (Eaton’s) failure to comply with the university’s ethical principles and code of conduct.”

Eaton has headed NKU’s sports program since mid-2009 and has worked as an administrator there since 1998.

He supervised NKU’s expansion this year into Division I athletics, including launching a $6 million fund-raising campaign.

He also was in charge of building a Division I schedule for the university’s sports teams. The men’s basketball team played at Ohio State, Texas Tech and San Francisco, collecting guarantees ranging from $75,000 to $90,000 for each of those games.

Eaton is a 1986 graduate of Bowdoin College in Maine, where he played basketball and lacrosse and ran cross country and track.

He earned master’s degrees from Fitchburg State and Springfield College and a doctoral degree from Boston University.

Mearns said when he arrived at NKU last summer, he set expectations including competing and winning by NKU athletes, performing in the classroom and displaying conduct of honesty and integrity.

“Mr. Eaton’s conduct failed to meet that third set of expectations,” Mearns said. “It is not a job performance issue. Although I guess what I would say is, job performance includes conducting oneself with honesty and integrity.”■

I write about higher education and the University of Cincinnati Health system and all their impacts in our region. Email me cpeale@enquirer.com